Eligible pensioners could get a boost up to £460 this winter (Image: Getty)
People of State Pension age or over may be due up to £460 in one-off payments this year. Those born on or before June 27, 1960, could receive between £100 and £300 from the Winter Fuel Allowance.
Eligible pensioners may also get a one-off £150 discount on their electricity bills under the Warm Home Discount Scheme. A Christmas Bonus payment of £10 is also available for people on certain benefits.
Taking the maximum amount available from the Winter Fuel Allowance, this all adds up to a £460 boost when the cost of living and Christmas threaten to put household finances under pressure.
Details of each perk and who is eligible can be found below.
Winter Fuel Allowance
This is to help people pay for their heating bills in winter. If you are eligible, you should be paid the allowance automatically.
You should get a letter in October or November to confirm how much you will receive. The allowance is paid mainly in November or December.
However, HMRC will claw it back if your total annual income is more than £35,000. This total does not include your partner’s income, if you have one.
Winter Fuel Allowance is not paid to people in Scotland, but they may be able to get Pension Age Winter Heating payment.
The payment is for those born on or before June 27, 1960, living in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
You won’t be able to get it if: you usually live outside those three countries; you were in hospital receiving free treatment from September 21 to 27 this year and in 2025; you were in prison during the same period, or you cannot claim public funds.
If you live in a care home, you can get the payment. But you won’t be able to if both of the following apply: you receive Universal Credit (UC), Pension Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and you lived in a care home from June 29 or earlier.
If you live alone or nobody you live with is eligible, you will get £200 if you were born between September 28, 1946, and June 27, 1960. You will get £300 if you were born before September 28, 1946.
How much you get may differ if you live with somebody else who is eligible for the payment and you get Pension Credit or UC or ESA.
Payments range from £100 to £200 for people who don’t get any of those benefits. For a full list of the amounts, check here.
Beware of scam calls, emails or messages about the allowance and report anything suspicious. Claims for winter 2026-27 open from September 21.
Warm Home Discount
This is a one-off £150 discount from your electricity bill which is applied by your provider. The money is not paid to you.
It is usually sorted automatically if you are eligible, but if you live in Scotland you might have to apply to your energy supplier.
You may also be able to switch the perk to your gas bill if your provider supplies both your electricity and gas.
You might be able to take advantage of it if on August 23 your energy supplier was part of the scheme; you or your partner receive means-tested benefits and yours or their name is on electricity bills.
Benefits that qualify are: UC, Housing Benefit, ESA and Pension Credit. The scheme opens in October.
It isn’t available in Northern Ireland and different rules around who gets it apply in Scotland. If you live in a mobile home, there is a different way to apply too. More details can be found here.
Christmas Bonus
To receive this tax-free £10 payment you should be “ordinarily” resident in the UK, Isle of Man, Channel Islands or Gibraltar during the qualifying week, which is usually the first week of December.
It should be paid automatically into your account and won’t affect any other benefits you might be claiming.
You must claim the State Pension and get at least one of the following benefits:
- Adult Disability Payment
- Armed Forces Independence Payment
- Attendance Allowance
- Carer’s Allowance
- Carer Support Payment
- Child Disability Payment
- Constant Attendance Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (once the main phase of the benefit is entered after the first 13 weeks of claim)
- Disability Living Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit at the long-term rate
- Industrial Death Benefit (for widows or widowers)
- Mobility Supplement
- Pension Age Disability Payment
- Pension Credit – the guarantee element
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
- Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance (SADLA)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (transitionally protected)
- State Pension (including Graduated Retirement Benefit)
- Unemployability Supplement or Allowance (paid under Industrial Injuries or War Pensions schemes)
- War Disablement Pension at State Pension age
- War Widow’s Pension
- Widowed Mother’s Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
